The Rauschenburg, also called Rauschenburg Castle (german: Burg Rauschenberg), is the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
ruin
Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...
of a
hill castle
A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles ...
, located at around 250 metres above sea level, above the Ehrbach stream in the parish of
Mermuth
Mermuth is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück ...
in the county of
Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis
Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis is a district (german: Kreis) in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Mayen-Koblenz, Rhein-Lahn, Mainz-Bingen, Bad Kreuznach, Birkenfeld, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Coc ...
in the German state of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
.
History
In 1332 the
Archbishop of Trier
The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' (IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Baldwin of Luxembourg
Baldwin of Luxembourg (c. 1285 – 21 January 1354) was the Archbishop- Elector of Trier and Archchancellor of Burgundy from 1307 to his death. From 1328 to 1336, he was the diocesan administrator of the archdiocese of Mainz and from 1331 to 13 ...
, built the Rauschenburg during the
Eltz Feud
The Eltz Feud (german: Eltzer Fehde) was a 14th-century feud that arose between rulers of the Trier region on the Moselle and certain members of the knightly class who were acting independently and failing to support their sovereign princes. It ca ...
. It acted as a
counter castle
Counter-castles were built in the Middle Ages to counter the power of a hostile neighbour or as a siege castle, that is, a fortified base from which attacks could be launched on a nearby enemy castle.
Purpose
In castle science, and according t ...
designed to defeat his opponents, the
joint tenants
In property law, a concurrent estate or co-tenancy is any of various ways in which property is owned by more than one person at a time. If more than one person owns the same property, they are commonly referred to as co-owners. Legal terminolo ...
of the castles of Waldeck, Schöneck and Ehrenburg who were rebelling against their vassal status. Later tenants of the castle, which was enfeoffed by the Archbishopric of Trier, was divided among several families, including the Schönecks, von Eichs, Waldbott of Bassenheim and Boos of Waldeck).
Description
The castles comprises a pentagonal
enceinte
Enceinte (from Latin incinctus: girdled, surrounded) is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. For ...
. Almost the entire site was surrounded by a second lower defensive wall. On the uphill side was a
neck ditch
A neck ditch (german: Halsgraben), sometimes called a throat ditch, at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry cuts across the saddle and would have formed the first obstacle to any attack. The remains of the gateway and foundations of the bridge may still be seen there. In the
inner bailey
The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...
are the ruins of residential buildings. In the centre of the western part of the enceinte are the remains of a tower, perhaps the old ''
bergfried
''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Spanish: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries and in countries under German ...
''. In addition, the site is accessed via two surviving gates. A third gate in the southeastern section of the outer wall was probably wall up in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
.
Literature
* Alexander Thon/Stefan Ulrich, ''"Von den Schauern der Vorwelt umweht...". Burgen und Schlösser an der Mosel'', Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, 2007, pp. 116-119.
* Michael Hammes, Achim H. Schmidt: ''"Eine Burg auf hoh(l)em Fels...-" Die Rauschenburg bei Mermuth, Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis. Ergebnisse einer baugeschichtlichen Beobachtung''. In: ''Abenteuer Archäologie'', issue no. 9, 2014, pp. 31–43
* Gustav Schellack, Willi Wagner: ''Burgen und Schlösser im Hunsrück-, Nahe- und Moselland''. Kastellaun, 1976.
* Olaf Wagener: ''Rauschenburg und Trutz-Eltz, zwei Gegenburgen des Erzbischofs Balduin von Trier im Vergleich'', in: Burgen und Schlösser, 44th year, issue 3/2003, pp. 166 - 174.